Abstract: With the development of the second generation high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) tape technology, YBCO superconducting tapes are increasingly widely used in superconducting power applications. However, there are still some factors that affect the stability of superconductors, such as internal defects of tapes, which endangers the stable operation of high current transmission superconductors. The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of the inhomogeneity of the superconducting tapes caused by the internal defects on the current carrying characteristics of the tapes. First, the effect of stress-induced defects on the degradation of critical current density is studied in magnetic probe scanning method, and the mechanism of critical current degradation is further analyzed by establishing a defect simulation model and scanning the SEM micrographs. Then, the influence trend of the inhomogeneity of macroscopic defects on the current carrying characteristics of superconducting tapes is studied through experiments. The results show that the internal defects of the superconducting tapes under stress will surely cause the degradation and inhomogeneity of the critical current. The major reasons of it are the degradation of the critical current density caused by the damage of the superconducting layer structure and the reduction of the superconducting flow area caused by the micro-cracks. That is, the current carrying capacity of superconducting tapes is not only affected by the degradation of local critical current, but also by the area of the priority quench region along the current direction. Research can provide useful reference for the preparation of superconducting tapes and the current carrying design of the superconducting power equipment.